Blood Bond
by butraura
Summary: AU / Clary gets attacked during a mission and while fighting for her life in the Institute, the people close to her are unveiling secrets about her that will help them save her life and - hopefully - take on Valentine.
1. Blood Bond

Hey everyone! This is my first Shadowhunters story and I'm not really sure how the fanfic base is for the fandom but I'm just trying it out. This story is an **AU that will contain spoilers for the season so far** so if you haven't watched it I wouldn't read this. It begins basically after they free the angel from Valentine's chains.

Also want to put it out there that while this show has very quickly become my favourite, I still haven't read the books. So the story is based of the TV show. If I get stuff wrong it's based on limited information. At this point I'm making stuff up as I go along to work with the plot. Feel free to tell me if I have incorrect information or if things I write are mostly right except for a few details! But even so it _is_ AU so things may be fine even though they don't directly follow the series.

Lastly, this story will likely just be a two-shot, and I will be posting it on _Ao3_ as well under the same pen name. Please enjoy and review!

* * *

 _Where are you_? We have a mission.

The text rings through Clary's phone like a deafening reminder that she couldn't just have a normal day to just... exist. She hasn't had time to really grieve over losing her mother, she hasn't exactly made up her mind about how she feels about Jace (how she's supposed to feel and how she does feel are entirely different points). She hasn't even really found the time to look in to her new ability to create runes that didn't before exist.

All she wanted was to be at home, in her apartment, with her mom and Luke - Simon, too, scarfing a huge plate of chicken cacciatore.

Instead, she's at the pack's den by the pier, hanging out in the restaurant, staring blankly at the walls. She doesn't know what to do about Valentine. Every time she thinks they're making headway on him, she finds herself back to the drawing board.

She sighs. _At Luke's. On my way._

She stands up and hugs Luke firmly, not wanting to leave. "I'll see you around," she promises. "Gotta go be a Shadowhunter." She drops her shoulders as she sees herself out and she calls Alec.

He picks up almost instantly. "Yeah," he answers.

"I'm on my way back to the Institute now," she informs him.

"Actually, no, meet us in the alley way half a block from the Hotel DuMort," Alec tells her instead. "Izzy isn't joining us this time. She doesn't know."

Clary chuckles. "You're keeping a secret from your sister? That's unlike you."

"She needs help," he explains. "I'll explain more when we meet you but she got a hold of yin fen somehow and I don't know how."

"You're going to have to tell me what that is, too because I have no idea," she replies, heading south towards the downtown area.

"Right." You can practically _hear_ the eyeroll. They hang up then and Clary makes her way to the meeting point.

Clary likes walking the streets of New York at night because it's beautifully lit up and she can pretend - if even only for a moment - that she is that eighteen year-old girl that roadied for Rock Solid Panda when they were Champagne Enema. And the same girl who would regularly hit up bars with a fake ID. Her life was so easy. So... mundane. What she wouldn't give to taste that old life again. Since she met Jace and decided that him being an abrasive asshole wasn't okay and followed him inside Pandemonium, her life has flipped on its axis. Suddenly her best friend is _undead_ , her mom is _really dead_ , and her father _isn't dead_. There's nothing right about the whole situation.

She turns a few corners and nears the alleyway. She wonders briefly what yin fen is and why it's so disturbing that Izzy has it. She wonders if Alec will ever recover from killing her mom. She wonders if Jace will ever confront what's bothering him. Her mind takes very complicated paths to get a single coherent thought sometimes.

She gets to the alley and uses her stele to activate her invisibility rune, so she doesn't look like a random girl hiding in the dark to pedestrians as they walk by. She leans on a wall, the brick terribly uncomfortable but also not caring. She checks her phone periodically for a message from Alec - or Jace, even. Eleven minutes past the meeting time she begins to worry. Alec is always on time. There has literally not been a time since meeting him where he has failed to be on time for anything.

She checks her phone once more as Alec runs around the corner in to alley, taking her by surprise. She jumps a little. "Alec, what took you so long? Everything okay?"

He nods and catches his breath. "Jace wouldn't come. I tried to pry him off a Seelie but neither of them were interested in becoming unglued no matter what I said." He huffs. "You and I will just have to do this."

She nods, uncomfortable knowing that Jace is hooking up with random girls. She shakes her head and starts to walk off out of the alley. "What are we going to the Hotel DuMort for?"

"The mission," Alec says awkwardly.

She turns around to give him the stink eye but suddenly his hands are around her neck and are pinning her to the brick wall. "A-Alec, what the hell?" she chokes out. She never truly understood his strength until this moment - until her life was literally in his hands.

He keeps pushing her hands to her side and away from her throat. She tries to gasp in a panic and he just chuckles while she begins to flail beneath his grip.

""Al-Ale-c" she breaths. She can see the whites behind her eyes but does her damnedest to fight him. She gets a small kick in which only appears to aggravate him more and as she reaches for her stele he rips it from her hands and pitches it down the alley. Alec then takes her seraph blade and drops it a few feet away, too far out of reach. "A-Al," she tries. She can't form the words properly so settles on a desperate, "please," before her body gives way and she falls unconcious.

He lets her sink to cold ground and he stands over her. "You're just a distraction," he spits. He suddenly shifts in to an entirely different person - an older man with the mark of the Circle. He crouches over her body and speaks, venom in his voice. "Valentine is too hung up on trying to get you and that Wayland kid to join the Circle. He has the Cup and isn't using it to its full potential." He tucks a strand of Clary's hair behind her ear. "There's a pretty little reward in the form of a pardon from your daddy's wrath if you're returned to him unharmed. That was the goal. But you and your little Shadowhunter friends keep getting in the way of the Downworlders. Rumor has it that there's an alliance forming between everyone to just off you the second they see you." He smirks. "The way I see it, if I just kill you now, Valentine will be too busy trying to find the Downworlder responsible and his guard will be down so we can make our move on the Cup. I used to be his biggest ally. But then I was turned in to a demon during a mission and completely exhiled from the Circle. This will be my revenge."

He lays Clary on her back then and picks up her seraph blade a few feet away. It doesn't activate as he anticipates but he knows that it'll do exactly what he needs it to. He turns the hilt of the blade to the sky and carefully angles himself away. Then he takes both of her hands, limp at her side, and wraps them around the handle of the blade. In an instant, it activates and the blade is thrust directly in to her stomach. Clary's body seizes for a moment and stills again.

Just then, Alec - the _real_ Alec comes around the corner in a flurry and sees the demon hovering over Clary. His heart stops but his bow and quiver are out in an instant and an arrow is shot through the ex-Circle member's skull. He is incinerated and disappears in to the air.

Alec runs to Clary and checks for a pulse and finds one, albeit dangerously slow. He takes out his cell phone and calls Magnus. "Magnus, I don't have time to explain," he practically shouts. "I need you to open a portal where I am that takes me to the Institute and I need you there when I get there, it's an emergency!"

No questions asked, a brilliant shade of purple appears in front of Alec and a portal is formed. He picks up Clary, unsure about what to do with the seraph blade firmly lodged in her abdomen, and rushes through the portal, praying to whoever the hell is out there that she doesn't get stuck in limbo. He hopes that since she doesn't know she's going through it she can't become displaced by the magic.

He steps out of the portal in to the command center of the Institute and is met by a round of blood-curdling screams and gasps. " _Help_ ," he bellows. Magnus portals in just then and is at Alec's side in an instant, completely taken aback by what he sees. In all his hundreds of years, he's never, not once, seen a Shadowhunter stabbed by his or her own weapon.

A few people come running to their sides and try to get her on to a gurney. Frantically, Alec tries to stop the bleeding around her wound but it's no use. "Magnus," he whispers, while the others rush Clary to the infirmary. Magnus halts in his tracks to turn to Alec. "The seraph blade is designed to destroy it's target. Why didn't it tear Clary apart?"

"I don't know Alexander. Perhaps because it's made of angel blood, and Shadowhunters have angel blood." He takes Alec's hand. "I have to get in there and check it out." Alec nods and starts to go after the others but Magnus stops him. "You need to get cleaned up. And then you need to find Jace. We need all the brain power we can get." Alec hesitates but eventually nods before walking to his chambers.

Magnus scurries after the others and uses his magic to conjure appropriate clothing for an emergency procedure as his casual warlock garb wouldn't suffice in times like these.

"Okay," he starts. "I want this seraph blade out and run for testing faster than a New York minute and I want to know exactly everything about it down to the last residual microfiber left on it. I need the rest of you using your steles to activate her healing rune - I don't think that will work but I just need it to keep her at bay without her being at risk of dying before I have a chance to look at her myself." He conjures a phial and syringe. "I need to test her blood to look for any unusual properties that may explain why the seraph blade didn't vaporize her and instead seemed to freeze in her body."

Alec rushes through his shower at a record pace and, using his _parabatai_ bond with Jace, locates him to be at the Downworlder bar still - where he left him less than half an hour ago when he refused to come on the mission.

He thanks his lucky stars that the place is only minutes on foot from the Institute and barges in there like it was his job to break doors. He finds Jace in the corner like before and doesn't wait to drop it on him. "You need to come now. This isn't a joke - this an emergency. With Clary. She's on the verge of death."

Jace stops abruptly and jumps up from the group of Seelies that were hanging on him. "What do you mean, 'verge of death', Alec," he demands lowly.

"I mean an ex-Circle member demon used the fact that Clary is a Shadowhunter to stab her with her own seraph blade and no one knows what's going to happen now except that it's in her stomach - still activated even though she isn't touching it. It's still glowing. She's hardly breathing, Jace."

The two of them are out the door in in an instant - Jace doesn't even so much as look back at the group of half naked women pining for him. The guys glamour themselves and take off down the streets in a sprint, wordlessly. Alec feels helpless and Jace grows increasingly pissed off with himself for not coming on the mission.

In maybe five minutes, they storm the institute and beeline for the infirmary.

Alec squeezes in first and is at Magnus's side. "How is she, what do you know?" he demands. Jace rushes to Clary and holds her hand, eyes locked on her wound.

Magnus swallows deeply and looks to them both. "I found something I haven't seen in all my hundreds of years. I, uh, didn't even know it was possible."

"What did you find, Magnus?" Jace stands and approaches him carefully.

"Clary has angel blood," Magnus answers lowly.

"Wait, I don't understand," Alec interjects, "we all have angel blood. We're Shadowhunters."

"Yes, Alexander, you're right. But Clary... she has _pure_ angel blood."

"What does that mean?" Jace grows weary.

"I don't know exactly," Magnus admits. "It means that she is even more special than any of us realized. It means that the weapons designed for Shadowhunters are more potent when she uses them. It means-" he stops abruptly. "Oh no," he runs to the blood sample on the counter in the corner.

"What?" Jace and Alec demand in unison, following him.

"Clary has pure angel blood," Magnus says in a low whisper.

"Yeah, we've established that," Jace complains, annoyed. "What's your point?"

"Only angels can activate the Soul-Sword because of their blood."

Jace and Alec look at each other and in the next second Jace's fist creates a hole in the wall of the infirmary. "Damn it," he yells.

"Valentine wants Clary so she can activate it for him," Alec infers. Magnus only nods. "Okay but that doesn't explain this attack. If he needs Clary for the Soul-Sword, why sanction an attack on her life when he needs her alive?"

"He didn't," Jace replies, wincing over his hand. "You said he was a demon."

"Right, but he had the Circle rune on his neck, too. Magnus, how is that possible? I didn't really stop to think about it before I killed him."

"There are stories," Magnus explains. "But I didn't know they were true. Valentine sometimes would send independent parties out to hunt demons and Downworlders - just one or two people at a time - and most of the time they returned. But when they did, they were almost always newly turned in to whatever they were hunting. Valentine figured that if you let yourself get turned then you weren't loyal to the Circle. His mentality was that if you didn't win, you didn't fight hard enough. They would always be exhiled. He would let them go free so long as they didn't return, because he knew they'd be killed by his people anyway."

"I still don't understand why the Circle, demon, whatever, would try to kill Clary when Valentine wants her alive," Jace wonders. He hisses when his hand starts to hurt again and Magnus approaches him with his hands outstretched to heal it. "Thanks. Wouldn't he want to bring Clary to Valentine in an effort to redeem himself?"

Alec stands over Clary's still body, feeling indescribably guilty. "Not exactly," Magnus whispers.

"What do you mean?"

The warlock sort of evades their gazes and retreats to a corner of the room and sits down before explaining. "There's a bounty throughout the entire Downworld and demon world alike to kill Clary on sight. I thought it was just because she's Valentine's daughter. It's possible that enough people already know that she has angel blood and are trying to prevent her from touching the Sword. Once she does that, it will annihilate every being with so much as an ounce of demon-blood in their bodies. That includes me, Lucian, Jace."

It gets quiet. "Why didn't you tell us this before? About the bounty?" Alec asks.

"People are literally _always_ after Clary," Magnus reasons. "There isn't enough time in a day for me to list every single person that wants her dead."

"Okay, well explain this," Jace continues, motioning to her lifeless body. "Why is she still like this? Didn't you heal her?"

Magnus sighs. "There were and I'm sure will be even more unforeseen obstacles to my magic. I may be the High Warlock of Brooklyn but there are still limits to what I can do. The blade is out and a few of the people here are examining it in the laboratory downstairs, and I did heal her as much as I can. The issue is that a warlock cannot heal an angel, and even though she is technically half-human, the half that _isn't_ is the part getting in the way. Angels can only be healed by other angels. And I don't know how to work with that."

"Can't we just find an Angel?" Jace suggests.

Magnus deadpans. "I encourage you to find one. Go on, let me see know how that goes."

Jace glares at him. "You know we actually _did_ find one the other day."

"No, Clary found him, with what I assume is an angelic blood bond. You would have a harder time finding one anyway because of the demon blood in your body, _I_ absolutely _could_ not find one, Alec may struggle with such a task because of your _parabatai_ bond, and Izzy is out for the count right now and still would not be of use because of the _yin fen_."

The room is silent for a minute. Two. Three, until Jace speaks up. "Well then what the hell are we supposed to do, Magnus? We can't just let Clary die."

"My only suggestion is to assemble a team and screen them for any demonic properties in their blood and then get their help. But one of you needs to find Simon and Lucian and explain the situation on our hands and get their help assembling their teams. We'll help inasmuch as we can after we find an angel because we can secure perimeters and use magical Protections if we have to ensure a safe encounter with Clary. But finding one, that will be up to whatever team you bring."

The boys sigh and nod. "Jace, why don't you assemble the team," Alec suggests. "I'll talk to Luke and the vampire. You can stay in the Institute with Clary. I'll see if Izzy's in any shape to help."

Jace nods and Alec kisses Magnus on the cheek, taking him by surprise. "I'll be back," he promises, taking off out of the infirmary.

"I'll be here," Magnus smiles, smitten.


	2. Cure for the Itch

Alec heads to Izzy's chambers to give her the run-down. He knocks once and decides to walk in, where she's shaking in her bed. She looks at him frantically while beads of sweat trickle down her face.

"Izzy-" he chokes, alarmed. He rushes to her side and she tries to move away but is too weak to make it anywhere. He pulls her in to his arms while she shivers. "Izzy, what's going on?"

"N-nothing," she stammers.

"Is this the yin fen?" he demands. She shakes her head but he sits her up straight. "Isabelle, I know you're using it and I'm not going to ask why or where you've been getting it but you need to wean yourself off it and you need to do it now. For your sake and for Clary's."

She looks at him, confused, but also visibly uncomfortable. "Wh-what's wrong w-with Clary?"

He debates telling her the whole story but decides it might help encourage her. "She's been stabbed by her own seraph blade and she's, for all intents and purposes, perpetually unconscious," he explains. "She's not dead, but she's not really alive. We need to find an angel and between all of us with connections to demon blood; we aren't of use. We need to assemble a team to fin-" he stops and sighs. "Izzy, I need the yin fen out of your system because you're the best chance we have at finding an angel."

Her eyes open wide and she swallows hard. "Okay," she whispers. "But um, not... not here. I need to get off it outside the institute. I can't explain right now but no one can know."

He doesn't ask questions. He nods and holds a finger up as if to tell her to wait, and he takes off out of her room.

He and Magnus return in an instant and the warlock is looking at her with concerned eyes. "Magnus," Alec starts. "Can you leave Clary in her state without compromising her health? We need to take Izzy to your loft."

He shakes his head. "I can't, Alexander. I cannot trust the Clave to make the right decisions about her situation." He lowers his voice, "I cannot trust that they won't try to kill her."

Izzy gasps in her seat and Alec frowns, then raises his eyebrows. "What if we took them both out of the Institute? Jace can come with us so we can prepare and strategize, then when we're all ready to go, the three of us will assemble a team and you can watch over Clary using the resources and protections of your loft."

Izzy pipes up: "Luke can assign a few wolves to maintain the perimeter while you're inside."

Magnus thinks for a moment. "How would we get her out? A portal would immediately draw attention to ourselves, and we can't very well waltz out the door with a dying Clary in our arms." He looks at the two of them. "People would notice."

"Okay, so here's the plan," Jace says informatively. "Stop me if I'm wrong here, by the way." He taps on a large sheet of paper in front of him - a floor plan of the Institute. "The biggest threat to our hasty exit is Aldertree. If he knew what we were doing he'd have us all in lockup and under investigation. As we've already said, the biggest fear is that the Clave will make the decision to sacrifice Clary so Valentine doesn't have the opportunity to activate the Soul-Sword." He looks to Izzy. "I know that you're a little out of sorts right now but do you think you'll be able to shut off the cameras?"

She rolls her eyes. "I... I-I can disarm them in my sleep, hombre." She pats her forehead with a cool cloth to remove the sweat beads.

Jace grins. "Okay so I will go to the control centre and brief everyone on the Downworlder alliance and tell them to be vigilant about word from the Clave-"

"-and make sure you pretend you don't know anything about that," Alec interjects.

"Right. I will make sure everyone is so worried about training they won't even notice the cameras are down. Hopefully, no one will suspect a thing since I won't be with Clary. Magnus, you will leave through the front door and move to the back of the property and wait for Alec. Izzy, you will leave with Magnus. Alec, you will make a timely exit through the back door with Clary and meet Magnus at the property lines, where he will have a portal waiting to take you to his apartment." Jace takes a deep breath and sighs. "Anything I'm forgetting?"

Alec chuckles. "The entire part where the wolves and vamps come in."

"Damn it," Jace sucks his teeth.

"It's okay, I have a plan for that," Alec tells him.

* * *

Simon is a mess. He can't believe that of all the people that reside in that stupid abandoned church Institute building that not one person thought about letting him know the love of his life was literally stabbed in the stomach and basically dying. Not one person. He's always left out of the loop.

Alec of all people was the one who let him know via fire message - which if he does say so himself he's getting pretty good at reading - what the plan was. He told him over the phone the situation and explained he needed to send his information another way to maintain the security.

He stalks to Raphael's room in the Hotel DuMort to tell him about Clary. He takes long strides and enters without so much as a knock, much to Raphael's chagrin.

"Listen, newbie, just because you're a vampire doesn't mean I won't ki-"

"I don't have time for you, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou," Simon interrupts with an abrupt hand. "A demon attacked Clary and now unless we find an angel to heal her she's going to die."

Raphael looks at him, puzzled. "Why doesn't Magnus heal her? He's strong enough," he offers. He reclines in his seat with a Bloody Mary.

"Magnus can't heal angels," Simon informs him matter-of-factly, leaning on the wall.

"Look, I know how much you 'love' Clary," - he puts air quotes over the word - "but she's no angel, Shadowhunter or not." He chuckles.

"Actually, asswipe, Magnus just found out that Clary has pure angel blood and he can't heal her," Simon spits. "So, yeah, we have a situation."

Raphael sits upright in his chair at once. "So she can activate the Soul-Sword," he concludes.

"Yeah and I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like dying just because Camille was hungry and I was the closest thing to candy she could find and now I'm a vampire." Simon approaches Raphael awkwardly. "I need Clary to survive this."

He shrugs. "Why would I help you save the only person in our immediate lives - such as they are - that can decimate us without so much as a thought? The way I see it," his voice lowers. "Our best chance at survival is to ensure she doesn't."

Simon glares at the vamp adjacent. "You know as well as I do that if Clary dies, the Shadowhunters and the Clave will turn their backs on every Downworlder in existence." He smiles mischievously. "And besides, I still have stuff on you that I don't care to keep to myself."

"You're a pain in the ass," Raphael scoffs and rolls his eyes.

Simon grins and it shows on his whole face.

"What do you need from us?"

"We are all going to surround Magnus's loft (except me because I have to be inside with the rest of them). We're gonna alternate with the wolves and keep the perimeter secure. And we HAVE to be able to keep a professional relationship with them because this isn't Us. vs. Them, man," Simon insists.

"If you're going to be inside, then I'm going to be inside," Raphael counters adamantly.

"Okay, well you'll have to assign someone to be in charge while you're gone because there's more to the plan. Magnus is going to glamour the loft and move it to a different location in the city and we're going to be inside it, but everyone will assume it's where it usually is and they'll go there first. This is to buy us some time."

"Interesting..."

"Right? Inside we have to deal with the big problems, and come up with an attack plan. We're going to have to be ready to take on Valentine if he gets in the way of our mission to find an angel."

"This seems awfully complicated business for the life of a Shadowhunter," Raphael notes, unimpressed.

"I don't really care, so.."

"Okay, okay. When?"

"3 o'clock."

"That's less than an hour."

"You better get to it, then."

Raphael just rolls his eyes and walks away and Simon, proud of himself, leaves to go tell the pack.

* * *

EVERYONE IN THEIR POSITIONS? The text rings in on everyone's phones at once.

A chorus of agreements sound as incoming messages on Alec's cell.

WE GET OUT AT 7:15, he writes. NO EARLIER, NO LATER. DO NOT COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER THROUGH TEXT UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED OR WE CONFIRM THAT CLARY IS AT THE LOFT. KNOW YOUR PART AND SEE IT OUT. THANK YOU.

It's 7:09pm. With a swift kiss on the cheek, Magnus exits the infirmary calmly and makes his way toward the front door. Alec begins to bundle up in to his sweater and gently wraps Clary in a heavy blanket. He doesn't remember a time she wasn't talking.

7:11. Izzy struggles to find the strength to cut the cameras but she does. In less than ten seconds, there is a slight hum that quits and she takes a deep, shaky breath. At 7:12 she straightens up and puts on a brave front and heads out of the institute and meets up with Magnus.

At 7:12, Jace walks in to common area or, better known as the control centre, and calls attention to himself. "Listen up, everyone. Not sure if this information is accurate or not," he warns. "But apparently the Downworlders are planning to unite against the Clave because of Valentine. They feel they're in danger the longer they abide by the Accords. We need to be prepared." He sighs. "Unfortunately they vastly outnumber Shadowhunters. Get ready, get set, get training." In a flash, there is a flurry of activity amongst the people in front of him. He uses their distractedness to pull away from the situation and peel out the back door of Institute (the plan may have been revised a few times).

At 7:13, Alec picks Clary's seemingly lifeless body up from her infirmary bed, takes a deep breath, and carefully sneaks out the back door and directly to the edge of the property, where his family and Magnus are waiting. Without so much as a word, the warlock opens a magnificent portal and the five of them step through it and out in to the loft, where Simon and Raphael already wait.

He carefully holds a finger up to keep everyone quiet. "Hold on, we're about to move," he warns. He lifts his arms and the outside world seems to blend, waver and submerge in to a pool of magic. In less than ten seconds they're somewhere else.

"Alright then," he claps his hands together. We're home." Everyone sighs in relief, and Jace calls Simon over to him and Alec. The three of them gently lay Clary on the couch, and as soon as one could speak, Alec is at Izzy's side as she struggles to stay upright. "I'm sorry, Big Brother," she whispers.

"For what?" Alec wonders, worried about his sister and the havoc she's wreaked on herself.

"For disappointing you," she replies weakly.

"You've never disappointed me, Iz," he promises. He helps her to a bedroom nearby and eases her in to the bed as they wait for Magnus.

Outside in the living area, Magnus is feverishly trying to show Simon and Jace how to keep Clary at bay. "I just need you to continually activate her healing rune with your stele and every thirty minutes you need to change and clean her wounds. That has to be up to you, Simon, because Jace will be at full capacity with the healing," he warns.

The boys are ready and able. Raphael is a little offended. "What am I, invisible? What do you need from me?" he asks.

Magnus just laughs lightly. "So impatient, Raphael; that's ironic considering how old you are." The vampire rolls his eyes. "You need to to be with me and the Lightwoods, because you have to help us drain the _yin fen_ from her system." He pauses. "And by drain, I mean drain the toxin, not her blood. You're like a son to me but I'm not afraid to kick you out and change the lock."

Raphael scowls. "Relax, Magnus. I'm not here for Shadowhunter blood. I follow the Accords most of the time, unlike Camille."

The two retreat to the room with Alec and Izzy and close the doors.

A heavy blanket of silence falls over Simon and Jace. The two aren't fond of each other and really only have Clary in common. Now that she's in their hands, they don't know what to do.

She _has_ to survive this. She's the only thing that keeps them remotely sane. Simon is sure he would have died a long time ago if Clary hadn't been in his life.

He remembers in the eighth grade when they went to their first school dance and _of course_ , since they were best friends, they went together. He remembers when he and his mom went to her house to pick her up and she came out in this light blue dress that went down to her knees and he bought her a corsage and he was in a suit and felt ridiculous and she told him that he looked so handsome and kissed his cheek and didn't stop smiling the entire night and when there was a slow song she wasn't shy and made him dance with her and when the coolest guy in their class asked her to dance with him she told him that she already had a date and he was so relieved. He always felt like somebody around her.

Then there was his bar mitzvah only a few months after the dance, when she gave him his first legitimate acoustic guitar. Most of his family just gave him money, as he expected, but she scoured her couches for loose change and saved every penny from her allowance and took on extra chores to get him the gorgeous guitar that was too big for him. He didn't care. He played a one-man show at his party and he could swear he saw a few people's ears bleeding, but he was so happy he didn't mind. He serenaded Clary relentlessly.

It was that moment, at 13 years old, that he realized he was truly in love with her.

As they grew up, she was the one who encouraged him to pursue his music and art when his mom was trying to push him in to accounting and she was with him through all of the difficult mom conversations like telling her he hated math and that time he told her that he was bisexual (which she took extremely well to his surprise), and that time he told her he smoked pot once and was so ashamed of himself and insisted he would never do it again.

If it was excruciatingly difficult for him, Clary was there, no questions asked.

At their high school graduation, they sat together, even though Fray and Lewis are no where near each other in a graduating class of 382. When the time came, they moved their tassels to the other side of their caps and then threw them to the sky with the other students. Being the party animals that they are, they spent their after party at her apartment scarfing chicken cacciatore and hot fudge sundaes for dessert with their parents and Luke.

He wondered if Downworlders could have soul mates. He squeezes her hand softly.

Jace holds both Clary's stele and his own over her healing rune. This girl, this... means to an End that lies before him is the only thing that keeps him grounded. He will admit his ego was bigger than his job before he met her. He only cared about being the toughest, being the fiercest. Being the man that took Valentine down.

None of that matters anymore. He swears he fell in love with Clary at first, and maybe he did, but he's moved beyond that and just loves her entirely, it doesn't even matter how. They share such a deep and personal connection, almost comparable to his bond with Alec. It's different, for sure, but similar in the way that they make each other stronger.

At least, she makes _him_ stronger.

 _She is indescribably amazing_ , he thinks. Because in the short period of time she's been in his life, in the world of Shadowhunting, she's made her mark on them all. If it wasn't for her, so many things would be the way they were before. Alec would still be pining sadly after Jace, Izzy would have still been that young girl who's best weapon was her body instead of her brain, and Alec would continue to be the "emotionless G.I. Joe" that Clary once described him as. Sometimes he wonders where she would be. Most of the time, he doesn't want to know.

Her hands are cold. He holds one firmly in his palm while he holds their steles over the rune on her neck. Simon sighs and opts to change her bandages. He crinkles his nose slightly as the smell of blood - Shadowhunter blood - wafts into the air, and for a moment, Jace worries he might have to protect Clary from Simon, since he's still so new to the vampire life (such as it is). But he simply removes the gauze and wrap from her abdomen carefully and discards it in the nearby waste bin before dabbing it with the medicinal cream.

Jace wonders where the neurotic little basket-case he met a few short months ago went. Simon, always a paranoid little firecracker, was always getting kidnapped, getting killed, getting _almost_ killed, mouthing off what he probably considered decent comebacks to whatever anyone said. He was suddenly this strong, not-totally-abhorrent, guy that was occasionally useful during missions.

The two of them, no matter how much they didn't like each other, were sitting together in a room, completely vulnerable to their own feelings for the girl that could tear them apart in an instant.

Magnus feverishly clears a desk in the bedroom of all its clutter and drops a large number of phials and mason jars onto the surface, each ingredient precisely labelled for easier potion-brewing. He conjures a cast-iron pot big enough for at least a triple batch of the cleansing potion, should they need it, and gets to work.

He approaches the Lightwoods. "I know this may sound incredibly awkward and you may be against it," he begins. "But there are some things we need to do before I can even consider a magical cleanse." He motions to Raphael. "We need him to suck the _yin fen_ from your blood."

"No," Alec interjects sternly. "The stuff is literally _made_ from vampire venom. I'm not letting a vampire suck her blood."

"Alexander," Magnus says softly. "He won't be feeding. He can separate the venom from the blood and leave us with what we want. The potion will be to help restore the antibodies in her system and flush the micro-toxins from the blood cells. It will help kickstart the healing process and, in theory, put her back in action in a few days."

"In theory?" Izzy repeats hoarsely. She's sweating relentlessly, and shaking under Alec's grip.

"There's always a possibility for error, my dear," he admits. "But in my centuries of medicinal magic, this has never failed me. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to fully recover. But given who you are and where you come from, I'm nearly certain you'll be back to yourself in record time. But-" he continues. "You will _not_ be going out into the field until I can confirm 110% that any trace of the venom is completely evaporated from your body, because if it isn't, we won't be able to find an angel anyway. At this point, _your recovery is_ _the most important thing._ "

She nods her head slowly and looks to Alec, scared. He hugs her tightly. "I'll be here for you the entire time, Izzy," he promises. "I won't let anything worse than this happen."

Magnus comes over to the bed. "Here's the part that might worry you," he admits. "Because Raphael is going to need to bite you in order to get to your blood, it would be more effective if he could directly target the source - where you use the _yin_ _fen_."

She slowly pulls her shirt down a little to reveal her back shoulder, her skin terribly discoloured from the demon blood. Alec hisses a little and slams his eyes shut seeing his sister hurt. Magnus frowns and Raphael looks on, not wanting to look at it. "It's b-bad, isss-n't it," she trembles.

"It's not good," Magnus says truthfully. "Alright let's get to work. Alexander, if you would bring Isabelle a few inches forward on the bed, so Raphael has room to squeeze behind her."

The whole ordeal is incredibly uncomfortable for everyone involved.

* * *

"Alright, then," Magnus announces. "We're going to let you rest, dear, but I want you to drink this whole thing." He hands Alec, sitting beside Isabelle, a glass of unsettlingly purple juice.

"What is it?" Alec wonders, smelling it and almost gagging. Isabelle tries to laugh but is too weak.

"It's a full body cleanser."

"What kind of magic is in this to make it purple?"

Magnus chuckles. "Burdock root and goji berries," he explains. "Perfectly mundane ingredients. Not every solution has to be magical to be effective."

Alec rolls his eyes but chuckles and is handed a straw. He holds the end to Izzy's lips and she sips it weakly.

"Good," the warlock beams. "Now just finish it and yo-"

He's cut off by Simon running into the room. "Magnus, we-" He pauses. "Sorry to bother you," he panics. "But, uh, we have a situation out there."

"What _kind_ of a situation?" Alec demands, sitting up carefully.

"Well you know how Clary was having like, visions of those runes?" Everyone nods. "Well, I think Jace just had a vision through Clary."

* * *

 _Author's Notes_ : Alright, so I may have lied when I said this would be a two-shot. I thought it would be but then I just kept writing so I guess this will be multi-chapter.

But did you guys SEE THE FINALE? Oh my god, I was shaking like a leaf the entire time. I won't say anything spoiler-esque because it just aired yesterday and I'm sure that not everyone has seen it, but I will say that if there is something you'd like to see in this story that happened in the episode, review and let me know, and perhaps I will write it in. It won't be the same path to get there of course because my story has already taken different turns, but let me know!

And lastly, THANK YOU so much for suffering through this story with me while I attempt a multi-chapter.

Also, thinking about getting the Shadowhunter rune tattooed on my forearm within the next few weeks; thoughts?


	3. History Lesson

Thank you to anyone and everyone that has given this story a chance so far, even if you hate it, which is a perfectly valid option. I hope this chapter isn't too confusing and helps set the tone of the story. Just a friendly reminder that this _is_ an AU and is made up. Thank you again and don't forget to review!

* * *

Jace is standing in a state of nothingness. His feet are grounded but the ground beneath him doesn't exist. There is no sky or wall, simply infinite around his entire self. He's suddenly no longer in Magnus's loft, but surrounded by light and color and warmth.

He looks around to find an angel standing before him. "Where am I?"

The angel doesn't answer him. Instead, he walks closer to Jace and takes his hand gently. _Tenetur a sanguine_ , he chants. Suddenly a rune unlike anything the boy has ever seen before appears on his palm and burns like the fire of a thousand suns, but he can't scream. Agony floods his eyes but he remains silent while the angel retreats in the nothingness surrounding them, and Jace is left alone.

He stares at his hand and repeats what the angel told him, _tenetur a sanguine._

In an instant he's back in the loft, beside Clary, with everyone staring at him like he needs to be admitted. He's breathing heavily and frantically checks his palm for the rune but it's gone. "No," he pants. "It can't be."

"Jace," Alec says sternly. "What happened? You were having like an out of body experience for a second."

Jace looks at him, panic in his eyes. "I think," he starts. "I just saw an angel."

Magnus cocks his head but says nothing.

Simon pipes up. "How? Where?"

Jace is quiet. Alec cuts in. "Jace, what happened exactly?"

" _Tenetur a sanguine_ ," the boy answers, staring at Clary with so much fear in his eyes, it almost seems unreal.

"What?" Simon inquires. "What is that, Latin? I don't know Latin. I know English, some Hebrew and a few creative expressions in French but not Latin."

" _Tenetur a sanguine_ ," Magnus interjects. "It means bound by blood." He looks at Alec, puzzled. "I don't know why an angel would be so adamant about making sure Jace heard that."

"I think it was meant for Clary," Jace answers, beginning to regulate his breathing. "Clary has pure angel blood, so he probably meant that she's bound by blood to the angels. He drew a rune on my hand, one that I've never seen. But it's gone," he shows Magnus.

"Do you think you could redraw it?"

He shakes his head. "No, I… I don't think so. That's not my forte," he hangs his head and stares at his palm. "What does this mean? We already knew she had angel blood; that's why we're in this mess."

"Perhaps it doesn't mean what we think it means," Magnus hypothesizes. He walks away to a different room for a moment and comes back with a large hardcover book with frayed pages and a leather bind. He places it on the desk and flicks two fingers softly and watches the pages flip with ease. They stop on a page close to the middle of the book and he picks it up hesitantly and reads quietly to himself. He looks at everyone and closes the book. "Millenniums ago," he begins. "An angel by the name of Araqiel was one of the most powerful beings to ever grace the skies. He had ascendancy over Earth and all it contained. Over time, as humans began to populate it, the debate of good versus evil became more prominent in the societies of the world. Unfortunately, while Araqiel was the Creator and Protector of the world before him, he could not account for free will. Where people chose to do good, to _be_ good, there began to be more and more individuals who did bad things, that chose to spread evil where they went." Magnus notices everyone is sitting, facing him, and that even Izzy had stumbled out of the bedroom to listen.

He turns his back to them and is quiet for a moment before proceeding. "It soon became apparent that an Angel, whose name was Chayyliel, but would come to be known in your society as Lucifer, was orchestrating an army to infiltrate the good, harmonious world Araqiel designed."

"Wait," Alec interjects, confused. "I thought Lucifer was a fallen Angel. That's what we learned."

Magnus nods. "He's fallen from grace _now_ , but he wasn't then. As you know, the angel Raziel was summoned by a mundane when the Incursion of Earth was happening. He wanted to protect the Innocent from the army of demons Chayyliel was descending on them. In his plea, Raziel understood that his actions were unselfish, and decided to help the mundane, named Jonathan, become the first Shadowhunter." Jace shifts in his seat uncomfortably, as his birth name was the same as the mundane in the story. Magnus continues. "Jonathan crafted the Mortal Instruments as we know them. He began to create a counter army against Chayyliel's own and in doing so, met Ariel, the Angel of Protection. They fell in love," Magnus explains, lost in his own story. "They moved to Idris and had three children, each of which born Shadowhunters, each of which grew up, sworn to protect the Mundane world from the Demon world. When their children grew and married, Jonathan gave each of them one of the Mortal Instruments. His daughter Eae married Ioael, the Angel of Visions, and he passed down the Cup to their family, as she was the eldest of his three children and feared it would be the most sought of the three should they be in danger." Magnus meanders to a nearby table and pours himself a martini, dirty, before continuing on. "His eldest son," he takes a sip. "Leo and his wife, Zehanpuryu were given the Mirror. Zehanpuryu was a very highly regarded angel and she was well known for maintaining order and enforcing the law. Mostly, she was about freeing the Innocent. She and Leo devoted their time to righting the wrongs of the Demon world, and would go on to eventually erect and run the Clave. Jonathan and Ariel's youngest, Iaoth found himself infatuated with Zaapiel, an Angel who was in charge of punishing and exiling wicked souls or, in other words, followers of Chayyliel. Jonathan gave them the Soul-Sword, because it was designed to seek the truth no matter who touched it and he believed it would help them more than it would help his other children. Eae and Iaoel then bred generations of Shadowhunter clans including the Fairchilds."

"Clary is descended directly from Jonathan?" Raphael pipes in, taken aback by the information.

Magnus nods. "Really, I didn't know until the book just confirmed it. I had no idea. But that, I think, is why Clary has pure angel blood." He pauses. "She must get visions because of her connection to Iaoel." He looks at Jace tentatively but continues. "While generations upon generations were born and trained and spread out across the world, more and more Downworlders were being born from the magic of the fallen angels that broke the Laws of the Sky and mated with mundanes. It was forbidden for an angel to be with a mundane and when that rule was broken they were immediately exiled from the Sky to live a mortal life. As more and more angels Fell, some took to Demons who claimed to not be a part of Chayyliel's army and they would eventually go on to bear the Fair Folk, like Seelies. Some of the demons, regardless of their intentions, be them good or bad, went on to mate with the Mundane, creating warlocks, like myself." He finishes his Margarita and sighs. "I've been around a very long time. I've seen people be born and I've seen people die. Some I've loved, some I didn't. But you, all of you, are _the_ best people I've met in the centuries I've been around. So I need you to understand that even though I come from demons, I am not demonic in nature."

"Magnus-" Alec starts but is cut off.

"I just need you all to know that I care about you."

"Magnus, we are not the Clave. We are not Valentine," Jace states. "We could never hate you. You're family."

Magnus nods and takes a deep breath. "I might know something that will change that, Jace."

"What do you mean?"

"I think I know why in the vision, the angel said _bound by blood_ ," he continues.

"Why?"

"Because there were six royal families among Shadowhunters, each child of Jonathan creating two each. The royal families were regarded as such because of the abilities they would inherit, each generation becoming increasingly powerful. Royal families held such stature among the Common Nephilim. They were naturally more beautiful, the homes they lived in were less a house than they were a manor, and - most significantly - they had _pure angel blood_. They held balls for the Common and would anonymously donate money to Mundane housing projects and shelters. Even though Shadowhunters are inherently good, the Royals showed exemplary character until the days they died." He frowns and looks at Clary. "The Fairchilds were a royal family. When Jocelyn Fairchild joined the circle, their name must have been considered tainted and no one spoke of her family's past. That's why I didn't know about Clary or her abilities. I didn't know she was descended from the Royals."

"But what does that have to do with the angel saying 'bound by blood' or whatever?" Alec asks, confused. "And why do you think we would hate you for that?"

"Because Clary isn't the only one descended from Royals, Alexander," Magnus answers. "The Lightwoods come from Leo and Zenhanpuryu, which is why the Clave relies heavily on you Lightwoods to maintain the integrity of the Institute. You came from the people that literally created the government under which we live."

Izzy can hardly believe what she's hearing and Alec is desperately trying to make sense of what he's told. "Why didn't our parents tell us this? Why weren't we told that we come from Royals?"

Magnus purses his lips. "Because your mother and father were members of the Circle. The Lightwood name was tarnished in their lapse of judgement, that anyone born into the family following their betrayal would never know of their history as a Royal."

"And you knew about this?" Alec demands, knowing the answer but wishing he didn't.

"Yes, Alexander, I did. I made a promise to your mother and father on the day of your wedding that I wouldn't tell you. I was around when they joined the Circle." He pauses. "They tried to kill me."

Izzy gasps. "They what?"

Alexander looks away, frustrated. "I can't believe it," he huffs.

"They didn't want you to know because they're not those people anymore, you have to understand that," Magnus pleas.

"The hell I do," Alec counters. "It's bad enough that my parents believed in Valentine. It's worse that they actually committed to hurting the Downworlders. I still don't know why we'd be angry with you, Magnus. I'm annoyed you didn't tell me but I get why you didn't."

"I almost killed your father."

The room is suddenly dead silent.

"Excuse me?" Isabelle stands carefully.

Magnus swallows, uncomfortable. "Your parents, when they tried to kill me, they almost succeeded. I didn't see it coming. They hit me from behind and when I was trying to escape, I unleashed the strongest magic in my arsenal, and he was hospitalized for weeks. When I fully recovered, I reported the incident to the Clave, because I feared I would be blamed for violating the Accords. Your father's near-death experience is what brought Maryse to the Clave. She begged them to forgive the two of them for their betrayal. After a few months of hard work, they worked their way back up in the Institute. That's why they're so adamant about you, their children, maintaining the excellence they worked hard to achieve… then reachieve. Despite what you think at times, they _do_ love you, and they don't want you to make the same poor choices they did that nearly tore them apart." Magnus frowns. "That's why they hate me. Because of your father."

"But it's _their_ fault you even hurt him," Izzy reasons desperately. "So… Mom doesn't want you and my brother to be together because you almost killed Dad," she reiterates.

The warlock nods. "But they made a deal that said that if I didn't tell you about their past, they wouldn't tell you about mine. But now you know everything." He looks on with a melancholy expression.

Without so much as a word, Alec speeds to Magnus and takes his face in his hands. "I don't care what you did then. I know who you are, and I love you," he promises. He presses his lips to the boy's in front of him for a long moment and you can hear everyone holding their breath in anticipation. He pulls him in for a long embrace and they stand there quietly, together, before Jace interrupts.

"While this explains a lot, and I'm grateful we know about it all," he begins. "Where do I fit into this? And what does this have to do with Clary?"

Magnus pulls away from Alec and approaches Jace, who looks more lost than ever. "This might be difficult to hear," he admits. "But I don't think you're a Fairchild. I think you belong to a Royal family, but I don't think you're Valentine's son like he claims."

"I don't understand, how are you sure?"

"I don't know if I have the literature here in the loft, but I believe that one of the Royal families from Iaoth and Zaapiel's side was the Waylands. I can't say for sure because their lineage was," he pauses. "I don't know how to put this. I'll be right back." He's gone in an instant.

The others are silent, Raphael and Simon having been tending to Clary's wound as Magnus was telling them his story. Alec hugs Izzy gently and notices she already looks better than she did an hour ago. She smiles at him when she sees him looking. "I'm okay, Big Brother," she says quietly. "Thank you for being there for me."

"Of course," Alec replies evenly. "Izzy, I need to know where you got the _yin fen_."

She briefly considered telling him about Aldertree and how he gave it to her so she could visit the Citadel but decides against it. It's a conversation for another time, when Clary is awake and they've stopped the immediate threat of Valentine. "Not now, Alec," she says softly. "But I will. I promise."

He nods, not really satisfied with the answer he was given but internally delighted that she has the strength to semi-argue.

Raphael stands up from the ottoman he was sitting on and sighs. "I'm going to go check on the others. They've been outside a while." He looks at Simon. "I know you're tied up here so I'll get someone to tell the pack to get Luke here. Tell Magnus I'll be back in a bit."

Simon nods. "Thanks."

A moment after the door to the loft is closed and Raphael is gone, Magnus comes back with a book as thick as _War and Peace_. It's also a leather bind and Simon wonders if Magnus is as strong as he is simply from reading. The title reads, _Royal Blood_ in calligraphy.

Magnus stops in front of the group. "I found it," he informs them. He begins to read a passage from the book. " _Ioath, son of Jonathan and Ariel, and Zaapiel, his lover, bore two Royal families, the Heywards and the Waylands. The Heywards consisted of four children, each of which would become highly regarded in Nephilim medicine. They would develop a vaccine that protects against Mundane diseases such as cancers and influenzas. As of late, the Heywards are renowned in Idris for their contributions._ " Magnus stops reading and skims the next paragraph silently before taking a deep breath. "I'd like you to read the next little bit, if you would." He hands the book to Jace carefully.

Jace, puzzled, continues on. " _The Waylands belong to a tragic tale_ ," he reads. " _Shortly after the birth of their first child, the third generation of Waylands took their son home to find it burned to the ground. From the ashes, a demon emerged under Valentine Morgenstern's command, killing the parents of the infant boy. The boy would be placed under the Clave's protection until it is revealed that his father survived the attack and he is released into his custody. Years later, the father would die at the hand of the Circle, and the boy would be taken in by the Lightwoods. As of late, the Wayland name awaits reclamation._ " Jace is quiet while he processes what he's read.

"So all of us," Izzy starts. "Are descended from Royalty?" Magnus nods. "But Jace is the only one who is still considered Royal."

He stands up, trying not to punch something. "No," he tells her angrily. "I'm not. Because this isn't up to date. My 'father' that appeared out of nowhere after months of being absent wasn't my father. It was Valentine, disguised as my father, who raised me until he decided I needed to be scarred for life over losing him. He tried to make me a soldier he could one day manipulate. And he did because I've let him get away more times than I can count. I'm gonna kill 'im," he swears, his blood boiling.

"So _none_ of them are Royal. What was the point of this story?" Simon wonders aloud, startling Magnus.

"My point was that even though they aren't Royal anymore, they once belonged to one of the Royal families Jonathan and Ariel bore. Which means they are bound by blood. All of them. Not technically related," Magnus clarifies, "but bound by blood through generations of magic and Shadowhunters."

"So how does that help us now? And if we come from Royals, why didn't we inherit any abilities like Clary?" Isabelle wonders.

"You descended from a highly regarded Angel that was a master of weaponry. She could wield anything put in front of her, be it a seraph blade, a bow, or a whip. You both inherited your offensive talents."

Isabelle unconsciously fiddles with her bracelet. She's proud of her impact in the field. She could tell Alec was too. "What about Jace?"

"Your abilities appear to be entirely physical attributes. Your speed, agility, strength. I've yet to see someone as intimidatingly superior in my centuries," the warlock explains to Jace.

Jace cocks a sly smile at that but still isn't thrilled at what's he's learned. "Okay, well what does that have to do with us healing Clary?"

"I don't know, truthfully. But the Angel in your vision wanted you to know everything I've told you. Perhaps it's of some use."

"What if the three of us healed Clary with our steles at once?" Isabelle suggests optimistically. If we're bound by blood, perhaps it needs the strength of each Angel born from Jonathan and Ariel to heal her?"

"I thought that since she was wounded by her own dagger, it would take a full-blooded angel to heal her?" Alec counters.

"He never said full-blooded," Isabelle replies firmly. "He said _pure-blooded._ If the three of us have pure angel blood, and Clary has pure angel blood, maybe it will work?"

"There's only one way to find out," Magnus agrees. "I'll need you to stand back for this, Simon, but you did a great job." Simon beams and moves out of the way.

Jace sits on Clary's left, while Alec and Izzy sit on her right. Jace takes Clary's hand in his right, and points his stele at her rune. Izzy, following suit, takes her right hand in her left, and holds the stele to the rune. Alec, who runs out of Clary's hands, awkwardly holds her forearm and holds his stele to her rune. Simon stifles a chuckle. "Alexander, why don't you hold Clary's stake as well, so there are four in use," Magnus suggests.

Five unbearably uncomfortable seconds later, the three of them are surrounding Clary. In one shocking moment, all the steles activate at once. In roughly eleven seconds, Clary's wound begins to close before them. Jace gasps a little and Isabelle can't refrain from letting a tear escape and roll down her cheek. Alec sighs in relief. Simon is beside himself.

The steles stop on their own and they pull away to make room.

Then her eyes open.


	4. Chez Magnus

_Hey, I just wanted to preface this chapter with a really quick note. This chapter is totally filler because I need some context for the upcoming story, and I'm going to try to have the next chapter up this Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm (tentatively) off work for the next two days, so I'm hoping I'll have to finish and upload within this time frame._

 _If you're reading still, thanks so much. It means the world to me. What do you like? What would you like done differently? Feedback always appreciated._

 _Thanks for bearing with me. You're the best._

* * *

She was taken aback by their relief while they all wrap her up in a big hug, but she couldn't shake the immediate recollection of her last few moments before she blacked out.

His hands around his neck. Her desperate plea for life. His aggression. She stares blankly ahead while they squeeze her. "I can't believe you're okay," Simon interjects, practically shoving Jace to the side to get a piece of Clary. She sees him and returns his embrace.

"What do you remember?" Magnus asks her, standing a few feet away with a concerned expression.

"I got a text. Said there was a mission," she says quietly, thinking. "I met up with Alec, and then suddenly he was trying to kill me."

Everyone pauses as the man himself comes around the couch to stand in front of her. "Clary, I never touched you," he insists. When she sees him, she tenses and tightens into a ball. "Clary, when I found you, there was a demon over your body but he didn't look like me. He was a circle member." He looks at Magnus worriedly.

"You never liked me," she whispers.

Jace shakes his head. She's right, Alec was against her involvement with them since the beginning, but he's completely changed his tune since then. He knows Alec had nothing to do with Clary's injury. "No," he insists. "Alec found you and portalled you to the Institute immediately. Clary, if it wasn't for him you would have died."

She wants to believe him, but remains skeptical.

Alec feels like he's been punched in the stomach. He never wanted her to get hurt. Despite the first few months of her being around, he's come to care about her. Especially now, knowing they're all connected, it tears him apart seeing her so scared of him. "I would-" he chokes. "I would never try to kill you."

Magnus approaches him and rests a hand on his back, assuredly. "I can prove it to you," he tells her. "If you'll let me."

She nods, uncurling from the ball she's in and coming to the edge of the couch. Magnus encourages Alec to kneel beside her and he does. She looks at Simon, who is calmer than he usually is, which confuses her.

Magnus brings his hands to their heads and gently cups them. He closes his eyes and whispers a language neither of them recognize, and Clary is suddenly back in the alley, only not in her body. She realizes she's watching from Alec's point of view, and she sees herself crumpled on the cement beneath her. There's a man she doesn't recognize with most of his back to her - er, Alec. Suddenly she's pulling an arrow from her quiver and a bow appears in her hand, and with a swift shot, the arrow pierces the man's chest and he disappears into thin air. She's rushing over to her body and frantically making a call, saying words into the phone and then picking herself up. She steps through the portal. She's back in the loft.

"I don't understand," Clary breathes shakily. She looks at Magnus with wide eyes and to Alec.

"I killed the demon," Alec tells her. "But I didn't hurt you."

"The demon must have looked like Alec to get close to Clary," Magnus thinks aloud.

"I'm sorry for thinking for even a second that you did," she tells him honestly. He just nods. "No, I mean it, Alec. I should have never accused you."

He shrugs. "You didn't exactly accuse me," he replies. "And I get why you would think that. I guess I haven't been the friendliest to you, and then the whole thing with your mom." He looks away then. "But I would never try to kill you."

She nods. "I never blamed you for not trusting me. If I were you I may not have trusted me, either." She takes a deep breath and looks at everyone around her. "So what did I miss while I was unconscious?"

* * *

An hour passes, and the group, now accompanied by Luke, has reiterated the same story twice, once for Clary and once for the tardy werewolf (in his defence, he didn't know). They're sitting around Magnus' loft, collecting themselves and trying to fully process everything that is going on.

Isabelle was slowly but surely getting better, the medicinal cocktail the warlock whipped up working wonders. That and Raphael's ability to work his fangs.

Clary was still resting but she was awake, Simon and Jace at her side. Alec and Magnus are in the bedroom behind closed doors, Magnus consoling the boy.

"Alexander, you can't blame yourself," he insists, rubbing his back gently.

"It's my fault," Alec counters. "All of this. Izzy getting hooked on yin fen, Clary almost dying, Clary's mother actually dying. I killed her, Magnus. I know that no one blames me but I blame me." He stares ahead blankly. "I don't deserve anyone's sympathy."

"Literally none of that was your fault, you have to understand that. Isabelle is all grown up and you can't always be there for her," he explains. "Clary got hurt because you were late, but it wasn't your fault you were late. The demon likely had something to do with it. And Jocelyn," he continues, "was Valentine's doing. Not yours." Alec is quiet. "Alexander. Alec, look at me." He pointedly takes the boy's hands. "You are not a bad person. I don't think you'd know how to be a bad person. There are times in life where things aren't under your control. This is one of those times."

Alec sighs and then there's a light knock on the door. Clary peeks her head in tentatively, still wrapped in the blanket from the couch. "Hey," she greets quietly, her voice kind. "Would I be able to talk to you a minute?" she asks.

Magnus squeezes Alec's hand and exits the room, but not before giving Clary a light hug on his way out. He closes the door behind him.

Alec doesn't look at Clary, instead at his hands, wrists, the runes on his arms. She approaches him carefully and sits beside him on the bed. "Alec, I-"

"Clary, I'm sorry," he tells her first.

"Sorry for what?" she says, confused.

"For everything. For you almost dying, for you thinking it was me, for me not liking you in the beginning… for your mother."

"Alec, I don't blame you for any of that. When I found out it was a demon who looked like you, it made more sense." She touches his arm to comfort him but he stands up and paces.

"Yeah, but if I hadn't been so… abrasive, I guess, you wouldn't have believed it was me in the first place. I never showed you that I care about you at all. You had every right to think it was me."

"I understand, Alec, why you were skeptical of me. I already told you," she states. "If I were you I might have not trusted me either. I came in here and turned your world upside down. But you have to know that was never my intent."

"I do know that," he nods. "And you know why I was so hesitant about you." He pauses. "And you knew about the Jace thing."

The Jace thing. Of course I did, Clary thinks. She's sad for him for a moment. "I'm sorry," she tells him earnestly. "I can't say I know what you went through but I can imagine."

"It's okay," Alec tells her. "Because if you hadn't shown up, I would have never met Magnus. And he makes me really happy." He smiles a little.

Clary grins. "You two are great together. I'm glad you found him."

They're silent for a moment. Not an awkward silence but comfortable. He sits down gently beside her. "I do care about you, Clary." She looks at him, surprised. "You're like a sister to me in every way. You and Izzy could run circles around me. I can only imagine what everything would be like if we knew you since we were kids."

She laughs, a wholesome, hearty laugh, at the mental image of her and Izzy as children annoying the hell out of Alec. "I love you too, Alec."

And he just smirks. Then frowns. "I'm sorry about Jocelyn."

"Stop," she demands. "That was not your fault. I never blamed you for that. That's Valentine's fault and once we're all rested and ready, we're going to make him pay. Please don't apologize anymore for that." He nods and she hugs his shoulders before standing up. "Let's go be with everyone."

They start to walk out of the room but she pauses. "We're okay?"

"We're okay."

"Good," she sighs. "Now what the hell do we make of what Magnus told us?"

Alec just laughs and shrugs before exiting the bedroom.

* * *

The gang has been holed up at Magnus' loft for two days. No contact with the Institute. They've been recovering, planning, and developing strategy. Mostly, they've been training. Alec has been working closely with the girls to get Isabelle back in business and Clary up to speed, because in reality, while she's come a long way, she isn't nearly ready to face a group of rogue Shadowhunters with more years of training than her years of life.

Izzy quickly remasters her whip. She becomes attuned to the crack and is deadly and graceful at the same time. She can wrap it around Alec's neck without leaving a scratch but can nearly decapitate an enemy.

Clary looks on in awe. She slowly but surely begins to find her way around the seraph blade, though thanks to Magnus and Alec's uncanny ability to use, like, any weapon, she decides her weapon of choice is a polearm, essentially a long, speared blade. She learns to counter and evade close-range attacks with seraph blades and daggers, and even manages to knock a few of Alec's arrows to the ground mid-shot. This only happened a couple times since Alec is notorious for never missing a target, but it gives her the confidence she needs to keep going.

Raphael and - begrudgingly - Jace, spend time with Simon, teaching him to tap into his vampiric abilities when in combat. Raphael shows him how to use his speed as both a defensive and offensive weapon. He teaches him how to move without making noise and gives him a run-down on basic amateur survival skills in battle.

 ** _\- Always wear long sleeved clothing. Hats and mits are a nuisance but can literally mean the difference between saving your life, and becoming a SunChip._**

 ** _\- Don't let yourself worry about anyone else. You might love Clary and care about the others and that's fine, but the best thing you can do for everyone is take care of yourself. If you can stay focused, you can stay alive - such as you are._**

 ** _\- Never go to war hungry. Make sure you're well fed with the highest grade blood you can get. Your opponent may try to draw blood in an attempt to confuse you and will take you out because of your insatiable need to drink._**

 ** _\- Never go to war hungry._**

 ** _\- Trust yourself. If you doubt your abilities you're more likely to hesitate. Don't hesitate._**

 ** _\- Fear will kill you._**

Jace teaches him a basic series of beginner moves. Like lunging and blocking. "Realistically," Jace tells him at one point, "with training and practice, you should be able to kick my ass because of your additional vampire skills. And then, when I feel that you might be ready, you will take on me and Alec together - maybe even Izzy."

"But before that," Magnus interjects, "I need to show everyone how to tap into their inherited powers from the Royals. I'll start with the Lightwoods first, then I'll teach Jace - because as we know, they're from different sides of the Royal family so will need to be focused acutely in specific areas." He looks around at his loft - a full house now with all kinds of people - and is surprised at how it went from a place of relaxation and intimacy and magic, to a place of refuge and training and recuperation. He doesn't mind - his home has always had an open-door policy, though he wishes it didn't have to. He wishes his friends and Alec and Raphael - who has become more of a son to him than a friend, could just hang out and throw parties and never have to be stigmatized for associating with Downworlders or Shadowhunters. He wishes Valentine was never an issue and Jocelyn was still alive. He wishes Clary could have retrieved her memories. He wishes Alec would have never hid from his true self growing up. He wishes Simon could go outside during the day. He wishes he didn't have to watch all of them die one day while he lived on.

Magnus shakes his head to clear those thoughts from his mind and he takes a deep breath. He meanders over to Luke, who is lost in thought but watching Clary discuss technique with Alec and Isabelle. "Lucian," the warlock greets, sitting next to him. "Are you worried at all?"

Luke doesn't look at him but nods. "I'm more than worried, Magnus. These kids - I mean, yeah, the rest of them grew up in this world, they're a little more prepared. But Clary? Simon? They're so new to this life. Clary was born into it, I know. But she grew up as your typical Manhattan teenage girl. She was drawing before she could talk. She did stupid teenage stuff in high school, like try to sneak alcohol out of or into the house (like Jocelyn and I didn't know), she smoked pot for the first time when she was fifteen and cried so hard when we found out because she thought I was going to arrest her. She's only known the city during the day. The night time was a mystery to her." Luke looks over at Simon. "And him? He's been so hopelessly devoted to her since the first day they met. I can tell you this, Magnus - Clary is the only person Simon would have died for. He did die for her. And now, these kids, 18 years old and scared to death, are preparing for what will be the biggest, most dangerous battle of their life. In fact, it could be their last battles. And I have to let them. Because there's literally no way I could tell them not to." Luke pauses. "Jocelyn wouldn't want me to."

Magnus rests a hand on his shoulder. "Lucian, I've known you for a very long time. I saw the rise and fall of the Circle. The rise again," he adds, "and I know that you and Jocelyn did your very best in all your endeavours. You did your best within the Circle, you did your best with Clary. She's a wonderful young woman. She's so strong. You have to trust that you did enough. You have to believe you did the best you could have while raising her."

Luke chuckles. "I appreciate that. I only hope we taught her enough." He watches as Alec slowly guides Clary's polearm gently, and he shows her how she can use it to knock a seraph blade from her opponent (Izzy)'s hands. She nods, focused.

"Okay, let's try for real," he says curtly. Alec backs up and Izzy smirks coyly.

She lunges at Clary and brings her blade above her head, and in one swift motion, is dropped on her butt when Clary blocks the attack and uses the length of the polearm to knock her off her feet.

"Good. Again," Alec orders.

Luke sighs. "She's more talented than even I give her credit for. I never mean to underestimate her."

Magnus stands up. "Why don't you go be with Clary, teach her more while you can. I'll take Alexander and Isabelle off of your hands. It's time for them to become the trainees."

* * *

Izzy and Alec trail Magnus while he leads them to one of his many rooms, a large squared room that holds hundreds of books. He has a long table with bottles of water at the ready, and many mats laid around the room.

"What are we doing, Magnus?" Izzy asks, taken aback by the scene in front of her. Alec notices the wall adjacent to the table, where there are weapons of various shapes and sizes. He nudges his sister.

The warlock takes his robes off and gently drapes them over a chair at the table. He's wearing loose sweatpants and a long sleeve tee. He's uncharacteristically toned down in terms of wardrobe. Alec likes this new side of him. (Let's be honest, Alec likes all of Magnus's sides). Magnus stands in the centre of the room. "As we've recently learned," he begins, "the Lightwoods come from Leo and Zenhanpuryu. Zenhanpuryu was a master of weaponry. They didn't even have to be real weapons. She had to ability to craft a weapon from nothing. To use generic materials in her general vicinity to her advantage."

Izzy chuckles. "Do you remember when we were taking on the Vamps in the Hotel DuMort and-"

"And you just arbitrarily decided to break a pipe with your seraph dagger so we could bend it around the door?" Malec interrupts, laughing. "Yeah, I remember."

"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword is an idiot."

"When you're right, you're right."

Magnus watches them and smiles. "That's funny, considering how you both come from a People that literally live vicariously through your weapons." He motions to the wall. "Exhibit A."

They laugh. "So what are we doing, Magnus?" Alec wonders.

"First, I'm just going to stand here while you both take a look at them and get a feel for which ones draw you in more. Of course, I don't expect anything to come between you and your whip," - he looks pointedly at Izzy - "and your bow and quiver," - to Alec. "But perhaps you'll find yourself becoming increasingly comfortable with weapons you may not have considered. And when we finally face Valentine, I promise you that will be one of our greatest assets."

The siblings approach the wall in awe. "What do you we do with them?"

"If you find one you want to try out, come at me with it. I won't be an easy target, though," he warns with a chuckle. "You know, warlock."

They turn from him and Izzy runs her hands up and down the metal and she grazes her fingers along the blades. She finds a throwing axe, and without really thinking about it, she pulls it from the wall and whips it across the room with more force than she's ever used. Alec shouts in surprise, and Magnus simply dodges the attack. The axe hits a bookshelf and a few hardcover books fall. She screams, surprised at herself and Magnus just laughs. "So you clearly like that one," he infers.

"I'm so sorry, oh my god," she runs over to him.

He holds his hands up in protest. "You didn't even come close to me, Isabelle. Really, it's okay." He nods at Alec. "Pick a weapon, come to the middle, and we'll see how quickly you can learn to use it."

* * *

Back in the main living area of the loft, Clary and Simon are sitting with Raphael, discussing a plan of attack for the vampire clan. Clary is resting her head on Simon's shoulder and holding his forearm affectionately.

Jace and Luke are in the kitchen, setting out the food that they ordered (on the Institute's tab!). Jace is watching Clary and Simon begrudgingly. Considering the new information they have about him, about them, and that they're not actually brother and sister, they could be together if they wanted to. But she's with the vampire. He sucks his teeth at the thought.

Luke laughs softly. "Jace," he says lowly, getting his attention. "They've known each other since they were like, six. That's a lot of years of togetherness of any kind. At least for right now, let them comfort each other. Maybe after all this is done you can fight for her. For now, she needs you to fight with her, okay?"

Jace nods and turns away as he finishes laying out the napkins. He sighs and straightens up. "Food!" he shouts, so everyone hears him. In an instant, the kitchen is packed with hungry people. Clary touches Jace's arm gently as she takes a plate.

"Thank you," she says. "For everything."

"Any time."


End file.
